Warning and sounding device for ships



Oct. 11, 1932. c, WQLFF WARNING AND SOUND'ING DEVICE FOR SHIPS Filed Sept. '7, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jnuenzor: C. M47

ca. 11, 1932. W L F 1,882,171

WARNING AND sounnme DEVICE FOR SHIPS Filed Sept, 7, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 11, 1932 ifUNlT-ED stares Leeann PATENT -FFic-;E

CARL woLrr, or BREMEN, GERMANY WARNING- AND SOUNDING DEVICE FOR SHIPS Application filed September 7, 1928, Serial N'o. 304,568, and in Germany March 9, 1928.

The present invention relates to a warning and sounding device for ships, which is to warn the, ofiicer in charge of the ship of the;

fact, that the'ship is approaching shallow water, and which, at the same time, is adapted to indicate the depth of water in shallow waters. Devices of a similar type are known, and consist of a rod articulated in the median vertical plane of the ship in front of the'bow or below the bottomof the ship in a vertical position or at an angle. This rod may be swung around its point of articulation and thereby, indicate the shallow water. Very complicated devices are required for fixing such sounding rods in front of thevessel, and this method is applicable to relatively small vessels only. A sounding rod articulated by one end belowthe ship issuitable only to small size vessels and to low travelling speeds,

since the water current, caused by the travels lingmotion of the ship relatively, will act upon the sounding rod and cause it to swing upwards. i g v A further drawback of a sounding rod of this type, articulated to the bottom of a vessel, consists in that comparatively complicated constructions inside the vesselare necessary. In the known arrangement and in its position of rest, the sounding rod below the bottom of the ship is lying close to the bottom of the ship, which constitutes a further drawback, considering that many ships enter into tidal harbours, or, at least, will sometimes get aground nearthe key walls, causing injury to the sounding rod or even to the ships'bottom. Such injuries may also happen when going intodock. v The present invention removes these drawbacks in this way, that, according to the m has been provided with special means of fitting such a sounding rod at the side of the vessel, near the bottom thereof, said means also adapted to keepthe sounding rod in a 5 sufiicient depth in the water even in case of reasons of ship building principles and of vention, the warning and sounding device working considerations, the sounding ro'd should be of relatively light construction and not of too great length. The rod must hang well down, relatively, and shouldfnot float upwards easily, notwithstanding its small weight. The sounding rod must not be too long and too heavy in construction, as otherwise large strains will be set up in case of pitching.

According to the invention, further arrangements have been made enabling installation of the device without materially aperturing the outside hull. Provision has also. been made to keep the device well protected in its position of rest, so that injuries to same may not easily occur.

In the drawings accompanying the spe'c'ifi cation and forming part thereof, the invention has been disclosed diagrammatically by way of example, and

Fig. I is a side elevation o'ffthe ship with the device forming the object of the inven-, tion, s

.Fig. 2. is aside elevation of a part of the device, on an enlarged scale, 7

lgig. 3 is a plan view of this part aforesai V 'Fig. 4 is a side view of the lower part of the object of the inventionin working position, i

Fig. '5 is a cross section through the upper portion of the object of the invention, show; ing the installation of the device at the ship,

' Fig. 6 is a cross section through a ships 7 body with a slightly modified form of the invention, showing a further type of installa tion, V

Fig. 7 is a cross section on line VIIVII in Fig. 6, on an enlargedscale,

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a rolling chock of a vessel with the mechanism for'operating the device'according to the invention.

At a ships bodyor hull 1, at the side of same and preferably belowithe rolling chock 2, a sounding rod 3 is articulated at point 4L so that it may be swung ina plurality of 95 planes. This sounding rod consists prefer ably of two narrow blades 5, formed, to advantage, on the principle of stream lines, and held by means" of cross stays 6. Heavy brackets'Li S have been provided at the hull i 0o,

ing rod and a known indicating device I on the bridge. This connecting member may be connected in any manner directly to the sounding rod, and may indicate at the indicating device I the raising or lowering of the extreme end of the rod.

her in the form of a coulis'se 1.2 has been pro- In Figs. 2 and 3, a modified construction of'a specially useful'conneetion between such a connecting member and the sounding rod is shown. a In this case an intermediate memvided, which coulisse receives a sliding block 13 and is formed with a guidingportion 14, block 13being fixed to the sounding rod,

whereas the guiding'member 14 is mounted" to slide vertically in a corresponding guide '15 of head member 9. "Astrengthening rib 16 has been provided for thepurpose of stifi'ening this part asmuc'h as possible, as'it is subjected to considerable stresses. The lower end 17 of the intermediate memberor part is connected, by means 'o fan arm 18,

to a rod '19, which extends through the bolt 10 and enters into a gland 2O inside the ship.

The parts joining at this 'point'and servingfor connection with theindicatin'g device, maybe executed as a rod system or as a rope pull. A. protective body 21 is advantageously fitted at the foreward side-of headmember 9. A special advantage is obtained, if at the sounding rod one or several shearing bodies 22 are fitted so as to keep the sounding rod at a comparatively large angle, under the action of the travelling current, to the bottom of the ship. 7 To the end of the sounding rod a hauling means 23 has been fixed, by means of which 'iti is possible to haul up, through the action ofa winch W, the soundingrod'untilit is in a horizontal position and lies close to the ships bottom. This hauling means also'serves for limiting the position of greatest angle of the sounding rod to the ships bottom. j r

'In a specially advantageous modification of the construction, the sheering bodies are arranged between the blades of the sounding rod pivotable around a turning point 2 so that, with the sounding rod in a lowered position, they will take up automatically and ape proximately the position shown in Fig. 4,

whereas in hauling up the'sounding rod, they willfold in flat 'betweenthe blades offthe' isoundingrodh In order to this result, the sheering bodies are supported outside of their middle, and the forward end of same has been weighted artificially. I

The efiective surface of the sheering-body has been advantageously calculated so, that with the ships speeds in question, 'the sounding rod will be kept at about the same angle, this being possible in view of the fact, that the buoyancyjof the sounding rod becomes less with reduced speed at the same ratio,

as alsothe effect-otthe sheering surface becomes less with reduced speed.

In order to .hold the. sounding rod, in its position of rest, with full certainty, so that also a very heavy-pitching'of the shi will not cause any injury to the sounding ro or to the" ship, and so that no injury can be done to the ship when going astern or when dock .ing, a special support or bearing has been devised for'the sounding rod. q

WVith this style of constructionthereis no necessity of penetrating the ships hull at any place, and the sounding rod maybe taken ofi'and put in placefagain at any time,also

durin the voyage and when'the ship is under way, or the purpose of control.

It is also possible a instalhinstead 0111a 'mechanical indication by the angular position of'the soundingrod, also a pneumatio'or hydraulic soundingdevi'ce, e. g.-aso-called Heyns patent sounding device, at the extreme end of the sounding rod, as-is indicated at-33, which device is connected in the known manner to the indicating device'by means'of a hose 34". In this manner the depth of the water is indicated directly, and the sounding rod will at the same time prevent, if the ship is underway, the'hydraulic or pneumatic sounding device from floatingup- I 'wards. 1

In the modification exampleshown in the drawings, the rolling chock 2 has beenjprovide-d with a number of angle pieces 25, and:

the hauling means 23 is carried through a'n-aperture 27 in the rolling chock, said aperture being advantageously lined with wood 26. In; consequence of; this arrangement, the soundinggrod is hauled to close below-the rolling chock, the angle pieces will enter be-I tween the blades of the sounding-rod, and .they will keep; the sounding j-ro'd and retain it also in the case oflateral 'st're'sses through Pitching.

In anothenmodification o f'the device according to. the invention, an arrangement has.

been made enabling a very; convenientliafid simple fixing of the sounding rodto' the I ships hull, under suitable circumstances even without docking the ship, the operation being also carried out iLt S H To-this end, a fixing member, e. g.- an 5 angular organ 28, is provided, with a'shoulder 29 arranged inside the angle. This-shoulder is intended to grip V behind the-bulb or rolllof the rolling chock,

asjis shown in Fig. '6. One portion 28lies against thelships wanand: is connected by means of a pulling member, e. g. by the half round iron 30, to the upper part of the ships body, a tensioning organ being cut-in near the railing. The other part 28 of the angular body 28 serves to place and supportone end of the sounding rod in this way, for example, that an organ similar to member 9 in 7 Figs. 2 and 3 is pivoted here by means of a on the bridge. 7

Attention is particularly directed to the fact that the bolt 10 on which the head numbered 9 is swiveled and the trunnions 11 for 1 receiving the rod 5 form a means for universally connecting one end ofthe rod in proximity to the side of the pipe near the bottom thereof. In one form, namely, Fig. 5, the brackets .7 and 8 support the bolt and head member while in the form shown in Fig. 6 the parts 30, 28 and 28" support the boltand head member to accomplish a similar purpose.

I claim: 7

1'. Warning and sounding device for ships, comprising in combination, a ship, a sounding rod, means for universally connecting one end of the sounding rod in proximity to'the side of the ship and near the bottom thereof, an indicating device on board the ship, a connecting organ between the supported end of the sounding rod and the indicating device, and a hauling organ at the extreme end of thesounding rod.

2. Warning and sounding device for ships, comprising in combination, a ship, a sounding rod, a head to which one end of the rod is connected for vertical movement, means for swiveling the head in-proximity to the side of the ship and near the bottom thereof, an indicating device on board the ship, an

' organ connected to the indicating device and movably mounted at the supported end of the sounding rod, a member slidably mounted on the head and forming an intermediate connection between the organ and the, sounding rod, and a hauling organ at the extreme end of the sounding rod.

3. Warning and sounding device for ships, comprising in combination, a ship, a sound ing rod, means for universally connecting 7 one end of the sounding rod in proximity to the side of the ship and near the bottom thereof, an indicating device on boar-d the ship, an organ having one end operably connected with the indicating device and slidably mounted through the universal connecting means, a member slidably mounted on the head and fixed to theorgan and slidably connected to the sounding rod, a protective structure in front of the head, and a hauling organ at the extreme end of the sounding rod.

4. Warning and sounding device for ships, comprising in combination, a ship,'a sounding rod, means for universally connecting one end of the'sounding rod in proximity to the side of the ship and near the bottom thereof, sheering bodies on the sounding rod adapted to prevent said sounding rod from floating upwards through the effect of the travelling current, an indicating device on board the ship, an organ having one end operably con nected with the indicating device and slidably mounted through theuniversal con- 7 necting means, a member slidably mounted on the head and fixed to the organ and slidably connected to the sounding rod, and a hauling organ at the extreme end of the sounding rod. i

5. Varning andsounding device. for ships, comprisingin combination, a ship, a sounding rod, means for universally connecting one end of the sounding rod in proximity to the side of the ship and near the bottom thereof, rotary and automatically self-adjust ing sheering bodies on the sounding rod, said sheering bodies adapted to prevent said sounding rod from floating upwards through the effect of the travelling current, an indicating device on board the ship, a connecting organ between the supported end of the sounding rod and the indicating device, amember slidably mounted in the said'head, said member connected with the connecting organ and having a slidable engagement with the sounding rod, and a hauling device at the extreme end of the sounding rod.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CARL WOLFF. 

